We're Just Friends, Right?
by wheelchairby284
Summary: Harry and Hermione have a moment in the common room on a stressful night...but thats okay, because they're just friends..right? Rated T just to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

Alright guys, this is my first fanfic! If you have any constructive criticism, PLEASE don't be afraid to share. Reviews are welcome. many, many, many many MANY thanks to my beta Theatregeek001! So, without further ado...

We're just friends..right?

_Tonight, I can't sleep a wink. Every night this week has been filled with intense studying, homework, and worrying over Harry. So tonight, here I am heading down to the common room with Crookshanks in tow to do what usually does the trick for me; curling up on the sofa with a nice, big, encyclopedia-sized book._

_Tonight, however, I see I won't be experiencing any of that. The couch is occupied by a boy with raven hair sprawled across it; my favorite boy with raven colored ha- NO! I shouldn't be thinking this. This boy is my best friend Harry Potter. who has been through a lot with me, who I favor no more than my other best friend Ron...who I'm currently not speaking to. Oh for goodness sake, just get out of your head already!_

"Hi Harry! I can't sleep. What are you doing up?" I blurt out. _Smooth one Granger- Wait, didn't I tell you to stay out of your head?_

"Same thing," Harry says, sounding a bit on edge."Have a seat." and with that, Harry moved to a sitting position and patted on the cushion next to him.

I pick up Crookshanks and settle down next to Harry, perhaps too close to be appropriate. I find myself snuggling into his side, but I pay no mind.

"What's on your mind Harry?" I ask, slowly and softly stroking up and down his back. I can feel Harry relax, and as Harry's upper back settled into my hand, I tried to keep my composure. _'Oh my God, I'M the one doing this to him. I'M the one making him relax...why am I so excited about that though?' _I thought.

"You have no idea how awful of a day I've had 'Mione." Harry groaned. _OHMYGOD he just called me 'Mione, that was so cute!' _I stared at Harry again for a moment, losing myself in his emerald eyes_..._and then mentally slapped myself for thinking again. _okay, so we've thrown staying out of your head out the window. Just STAY CALM. Your FRIEND needs you. _So for about five minutes I allow Harry to let loose everything that's been going on with him- his scar hurting, recurring dreams about Voldemort, and even normal teenage things. Towards the end, I'm hardly aware of where my hands are- tangled in Harry's messy black hair, massaging the back of his head. '_GOD his hair is so soft.'_ I think as I slowly and reluctantly remove my hands from where they are.

"Thanks for listening," Harry murmurs looking down at the couch cushion, obviously trying to busy himself with a stray thread in the fabric; a smile and a small blush creeping up onto his face. "So why can't you sleep?" he said, his eyes returning to mine.

I told him everything that had been weighing down on my mind, and was impressed by how calm Harry remained during my girly teenage rant.

"Well, if you need anything, I'm here." Harry simply says, stroking my back like I was doing to him before, _'WOW that feels good.' I thought, 'No wonder he enjoyed it.' _and I smile as I bury my head into his chest. All of a sudden, Harry starts stroking my hair, and murmured in my ear that everything was going to be okay..and next thing I know, my lips start to move toward his just before I had the chance to come to my senses and stop. Both of our eyes grew wide and we jumped away from each other.

The next few words between us were exchanged in rapid fire in an attempt from both of us to allay each other's fears.

"That...that was completely normal!" I say, still in shock

"Yep."

"Friends can comfort each other too!"

"Exactly."

"Harry, your one word responses are starting to become rather off-putting." I mumbled nervously.

"Sorry!"

"HARRY!"

"...Oh bloody Hell."

"Anyway, nothing weird happened." At these words, both of us started to look off in other directions playing with our hands, not even attempting to speak..until Harry broke the silence

"Except the almost kiss."

"...Right." I said desperately. _'Damn.' _I thought, shifting uncomfortably next to him and trying to look away.

"Which is actually okay, because you initiated it. My hands are clean." Harry says in a lame attempt to joke with a broad smile on his face.

"Potter, one more joke and I WILL hex you." I snapped.

"I'm only kidding!" Harry says quickly, leaning away from me as if I was some sort of dangerous animal leaning in for the kill.

"The point is, we're not interested in one another." I say with a tone of finality, all the while staring at the floor.

"At all." Harry quickly adds, staring at the floor as well.

"You like Ginny." I said, more with a questioning tone than one that stated the obvious.

" And you like Ron." _'Not bloody likely...' _I thought, shocked that I was even being honest with myself about this.

"We're just friends."

"Right?" we both say in unison, and with a quick muttered goodbye from each of us, we ran off to bed- not that either of us would be getting any sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

We're Just Friends..right? chapter 2

Harry's POV

Last night, I didn't get any sleep. The minute I left the common room, I ran straight up to my dormitory and, fully clothed, got into bed, took out the Marauder's Map, and lit my wand; staring at Hermione's name for hours- she was pacing all night. Ever since, I've been thinking about what happened between Hermione and me, and all morning, my brain and my conscience have been having a running battle trying to decide which one wants what's best for me.

_'What happened last night meant nothing.' _I keep telling myself adamantly, putting on my trainers to go down to breakfast.

Merely seconds later, a gentle, dreamy voice in my head answered back, '_Last night meant nothing? We almost kissed!'_

_'But she's your best mate!' _The logical voice countered.

_'Who has saved my life countless times, who has never left my side, and who is positively beautiful I might add. Just because we've been friends for so long, doesn't mean I can't-'_

_'Snog her senseless when she's stressed out and vulnerable?' The logical voice sarcastically cut off._

_'No, just because we've been friends for so long, doesn't mean I shouldn't want to be with her and take care of her like anyone who knows how lucky they are should want to!' _The warm voice said as I made my way down the stairs.

As I got to the common room, There she was, sitting on the couch reading, hair tied into a messy bun..waiting for me! Well, waiting for Ron too..But for me as well!

_'You're gonna regret it...' My mind said in a sing-song voice, bringing me out of my revelry._

_'I'm in love with her.' The warm voice said with finality._

_'WHAT?' _

_'I'm gonna tell her.'_

_'Your funeral, loverboy.'_

With that, I straightened my glasses on my nose, patted down my messy hair the best I could, and as I walked over to her...I realized I had no idea what to say.

_'Alright, you're here!' _I thought, standing next to the couch she was on, grinning like an idiot as she stayed absorbed in her book._'Say it. Right now. Come on Potter, SAY IT! I-LOVE-YOU. What could possibly be so hard about this for you? You've taken down a dragon!'_ My mind said, acting like a puppy jumping up and down for a treat..and I said nothing, continuing my idiotic grinning._ 'You miserable git! Alright, say anything. Anything at all. Ask her about the weather- No, thats stupid. Ask her about the book shes reading! Yes! that should work...And stop the damn grinning!'_

"Good morning Hermione!" I said brightly, fidgeting with my hands, and trying to betray the feeling of my heart racing in my chest.

"Oh, hi Harry!" Hermione said, looking up from her book and smiling warmly.

_'Is she acting...completely normal?' _I thought_. 'Never mind about that now, just regroup and you can try to bring it up again after breakfast.'_

_"_Wh-what are you reading?" I tried to ask conversationally as I sat down next to her, a little more space between us than last night.

" Oh it's nothing. Just some pleasure reading." Hermione mumbled, still absorbed in her reading with still absolutely no indication that she even remembered what had happened last night.

I looked at the title, and _Homemade_ _Cures for Magical Maladies _popped out at me in shiny gold letters. _'yep, definitely sounds like Hermione. At least something about her makes sense right now.' _I thought.

"Hey Hermione-" I started, deciding to bite the bullet.

"Alright, I'm ready to go. After breakfast, I'm thinking Honeydukes, and then Zonko's for today's Hogsmeade visit." Ron's voice said as we both turned around on the couch, and saw him walking down the staircase.

_'Damn it Ron..' _I thought, cursing his name up and down in my mind as we got up to head down to breakfast.

We settled down at the Gryffindor table, and Hermione, saying something about prefect duty, walked off to talk to Professor McGonagall.

"So when were you planning on telling me mate?" Ron whispered so no one else would hear him.

_'Uh oh.' _I thought as I looked up. "Tell you what?" I asked with a mixture of worry and curiosity.

"That you fancy Herm-" Ron's voice had all of a sudden risen far too loudly in excitement.

"SHH!" I said loudly, silencing him as several heads turned, and I beckoned him to come closer. "Okay. For one thing, I'm sorry Ron, but sometimes you talk way too loud. For another, I do not fancy Hermione!" I growled, trying to sound confidant.

"Oh don't be a prat. You can say that all you want mate, but its written all over your face, and you'll have to come to terms with it some day."

"I-..I.." I stumbled over what to say next while I stared at the table, and then looked up- _'Wait, is Ron grinning at me?' _I thought, so I took off my glasses, rubbed my eyes and looked again- he was _smiling._

"Well...wait, you _don't _want to kill me?" I asked incredulously.

"Kill you? Why would I want to go and do that?"

"Well because you yourself fancy H-" Ron cut me off with a chuckle.

"Well, yeah...I did. Honestly, mate, it's about time a bloke came along that fancied her, and wasn't managing to piss her off every day." Ron said, without even a hint of remorse.

_"Coming from Ron, that's like a blessing! Tell him, tell him, tell h-"_

"Alright..." I started slowly, cutting my thoughts off and hoping Ron was serious. "yeah, I like her." I confessed.

"I KNEW IT! Ron shouted with excitement, but quickly wiped the grin off of his face when he say my glare. "Sorry, er, not the point. So what are you gonna do about it?"

"Well I was thinking-"

"You ready to go boys?" Hermione said in an bubbly voice, as I turned and saw her walking back to the table. '_Merlin We're lucky_ _she wasn't here 10 seconds ago.' _I thought, my stomach untwisting with relief

"Sure." Ron said, acting as if nothing had happened.

I nodded in agreement. "Hey Hermione, I was wondering if I could talk to you in private for a second?" I asked quickly, deciding again to bite the bullet.

"Sure...Ron, we'll meet you in a moment." Hermione says in a concerned voice and Ron nods, giving us a knowing smile as we walk over to a less crowded corner of the now mostly abandoned Great Hall.

"What's up Harry?

"Well you see, I..erm..."

"Is something wrong with your scar Harry?" She asked, putting a hand on my shoulder and gently squeezing, sending an electric current through me. "You've been acting quite strange today."

_'Well at least she got it part of that right- theres something wrong, but it has more to do with the fact that I'm enjoying her hand on my shoulder WAY too much.'_

"I was just wondering if...that is, I wanted to talk about last night." I said quietly, trying to sound confidant.

"Harry..there's nothing to say about last night. Nothing happened, it's okay." Hermione said, sounding more like she was pleading than making a statement

"Oh..R-right," I began, feeling like I had just been thrown from my broom, right at the cusp of victory. _'God I'm an idiot.' _I thought, chastising myself. "Hey, listen, I just remembered I have some potions homework left to do. I'll let you have Ron to yourself today. I'll see you in the common room." I mumbled, walking past her.

"Harry, wait!" She pleaded, but the anger and heartbreak had taken me over.

"Don't." I snapped, turning around. "Please don't" I added softly, turning angrily on my heel and leaving.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's note: this fic takes place in the middle of harry's 6th year, before Dumbledore's death.

Hermione's POV

Ron and I are trudging back to the castle, having spent a tiring day out at the shops. _'I can't believe I did that to Harry' _I think to myself, as I have been since he left me in the Great Hall. As we walk I try to seem nonchalant, but I haven't said much the entire day, and I think Ron know's something is up, and I'm silently hoping he'll let it be.

"Alright, out with it Granger." Ron says lightly, trying to keep in good humor, but searching my eyes for an explanation.

_'Damn!' _I thought, mentally slapping myself for being so obvious.'"Out w-with what?" I tried to say innocently.

"You know what." Ron says accusatorially. _'He never was good at letting people be if something is wrong.' _I think to myself as he continues. "Ever since you talked to Harry this morning, you've barely said a word. What happened?" he says, trying to bring back a soft demeanor.

"Ron just because I talked to Harry, and I haven't really talked about it-" I start, but Ron cuts me off.

"Or anything for that matter." he quips.

I stop walking and bury my head in my hands, exhaling sharply. "I'm an awful person." I groan, still not looking at him.

"No you're not, 'Mione." He says gently, rubbing my back. "Tell me what happened."

"I..I think Harry fancies me." I say softly, hoping that it wouldn't hurt him.

"I know he does." Ron says matter-of-factly, oddly enough, theres no anger in his voice, and as I look up, he looks back with gentle concern.

"...And you..Don't want to hex him?" I ask seriously, and Ron chuckles.

"What is it with you two? Harry asked me almost the same thing this morning! You're my best mate Hermione, and I'm okay with that."

"Oh...Good." I say, relieved.

"Anyway, what happened?" Ron asks, getting me back on track.

"Well...W-we almost kissed last night. We had a bit of an intimate moment, and it just sort of..happened..well, almost. Anyway, Harry wanted to talk about it this morning, and I..kind of shot him down." I finish softly.

"You WHAT?" Ron says shocked, not understanding the muggle expression.

"It's an expression!" I say quickly, and Ron calms down considerably. "I-..I rejected him. I told him there was nothing to talk about."

"Hermione, how do you feel about Harry?" Ron asks calmly, and I laugh, not thinking of this as a conversation Ron would be good at, much less interested in.

"What?" Ron asks indignantly, "Come on Hermione, I may not have a huge emotional range, but mine is much more than a teaspoon. If anything, I'm at least a full fledged ladle." Ron's joke makes me laugh even harder, and I forget momentarily about the question he asked.

As soon as I get my laughter under control, he gently asks again, "Come on Hermione, how do you feel about Harry?"

"I don't know. he's sweet, considerate, he takes care of me, he understands me.." I stop talking as I can feel myself blush fiercely, and a huge smile makes its way onto my face.

"You fancy him don't you?" Ron asks grinning.

"Y-..yes, I do...I...I think I might even l-love him..I don't know." i say shakily.

"Then why the bloody Hell didn't you tell him that?" Ron fusses.

"I was scared okay?" I shout defensively.

"Scared?" Ron asks incredulously, and I nod wordlessly. "Are we talking about the same Harry? Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived-And-Saves-Our-Sorry-Arses-Every-Year?" I nod again, trying to supress a laugh. "He'd never hurt you, you know that! Why are you scared of him?"

"Well I'm not scared of _him_..." I start out, struggling to put how I felt into words. "I'm scared of..losing him. I can't lose him Ron. He means too much to me. If we were to break up, or if Voldemort killed him..I don't know what I'd do with myself."

"For one thing Hermione, you two would be perfect together. If you two started dating, you could go all the way, and you know it." Ron says with a smile, and then continues on seriously. "As for Voldemort, Harry lives with the threat of death looming over his head every day, and he knows that- but you're his best mate, _and _he fancies you- I'm sure that if he died, there's no one he'd rather have by his side than you. It may not even happen to him, it could happen to you. Wouldn't you feel the same way?"

A chill that runs down my spine at that thought prompts me to answer. "yes.." I say softly.

"Exactly." Ron says triumphantly, as we arrive at the front of the castle. "Well, we're here. What are you gonna do, Mione?"

"I'm going to talk to him...and tell him how I feel." I say, having made up my mind.

"Good Idea." ron says. "Now he'll probably be trying to avoid you, and he has the map, so-"

"That's no problem." I interrupt, and when Ron looks at me confused, I elaborate, "Ever since Sirius died, whenever Harry gets really upset, he goes to the astronomy tower. That's where he completely lets his guard down." I say resolutely, and with that, I start to head in that direction.

"Good luck 'Mione." Ron says with a smirk, and leaves me to go to Gryffindor Tower.

I'm starting to feel a little uneasy as I head up to the astronomy tower, so my mind starts prodding me encouragingly, and soon my mind is going back and forth.

_'Hermione, you've held some sort of fancy for him since the Department of Mysteries last year, you just haven't admitted it until now!'_

_'I know, but it's Harry...what if he takes it badly? He must hate me right now.'_

_'And that's why if he does take it badly, you're going sit there and take every word he says to you no matter how much it hurts, because-'_

_'I love him...because I love him.' _I finish myself off resolutely. I come to the astronomy tower, and my heart starts to race as I start to climb the steps. _'I love him.'_ I tell myself again firmly, and my heart calms down slightly.

As I reach the top of the staircase and barely peek into the room, I see Harry sitting in the corner looking absolutely destroyed. He's collapsed against the wall with one arm resting on is raised knee, his hand running through his hair. His other hand is clutching his wand; waving it around as he controls what looks like a transfigured dragonfly- my favorite animal. I smile softly at this sweet gesture before I notice his wand fall, and as the dragonfly turns back into a twig before softly hitting the ground and blowing away, he looks over.

"How was Hogsmeade?" Harry asks flatly, not bothering to get up.

I slowly walk over to him and sit down, giving him a little space before saying "It was..it was dreadful, I couldn't stop thinking about what happened this morning." I said softly before saying carefully, "Harry, we need to talk."

"Talk about what?" he says coldly, looking away. "I was under the impression that there was nothing to talk about." He finishes in a cold imitation of what I'd said this morning.

"Harry, I'm really s-"

"No, I'm not finished." Harry says abruptly in an angry broken voice, getting up and looking at me intensely, green eyes sparkling with what looks like tears. Seeing this, I willed myself to be silent and take whatever beating was ahead, nodding for him to continue.

"You really hurt me, Hermione." Harry said softly before continuing. "I know you're my best mate, and I know people aren't supposed to fancy their best mates, but...Look, I've told you plenty about the Dursleys right?" he asked, seeming to struggle with what he's trying to say.

I nod, encouraging him to continue

"When I was with them, no one understood me...and they didn't really want to anyway. But then Hagrid took me away, and on the Hogwarts Express, I met you and Ron...Ever since then, I've been able to come to you for absolutely everything. Not to say that Ron doesn't try or that he's a bad friend, its just..you know, emotional range of a teaspoon and all that." he said quietly, and I giggled before he continued. "You've always had faith in me, and you've always taken care of me, but...around last year, I realized that it's more than that- you make me so happy." Harry swallowed, turning a bright shade of red before finishing. "It's a kind of happiness that I don't feel around anyone else..and all I know, is I want to be with you..more than anything."

As he finishes I can feel my heart melt, and I'm finding it hard to believe that I'm able to stand up to talk, seeing that my legs have turned to jelly.

Before I can speak however, Harry cuts in again nervously.

"Look, I know you probably don't feel the same way, and thats okay." Harry says, defeated.

"Harry-" I try cutting in, but he plowed on. _'Merlin, he's so cute when he rambles.' _I thought to myself.

"All you have to do is say so, and I'll give you some space."

"Harry!" I say, barely able to contain my smile, which he noticed ruefully.

"Hermione I know this is all sounds mental, but is it really necessary to- mmph..._mmm._"

Before he can say another word, I throw myself at him, wrap my arms around his neck, and softly plant a kiss on his lips as a soft moan issues from him, and for the next few moments, one thought races through my head with pure glee- _'Oh Merlin, I'm kissing Harry!'_


End file.
